PanTerra weighs options for Las Lagunas plant, eyes JV in China

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold producer PanTerra Gold has this week unveiled options to use its Albion/carbon in leach (CIL) processing plant in the Dominican Republic, once gold and silver extractions from the refractory tailings at the Las Lagunas project was completed in mid-2019.

The plant has the capacity for treating 180 000 t/y of concentrate, and could produce over 200 000 oz/y of gold provided the average feed grade is 50g/t gold or more.

Following discussions with senior executives from the Ministry of Energy and Mining, in the Dominican Republic, PanTerra would make applications to establish a precious metals processing facility using the existing plant.

The application would be made in the name of a new company that would be formed to clearly distinguish it from the PanTerra subsidiary carrying out the processing of the Las Lagunas tailings, which was subject to tax exemptions and other benefits that would not apply to the processing facility.

PanTerra noted that provisions would be made to introduce an appropriate Dominican investor to take up a minority shareholding in the new company.

It was hoped that some 100 000 t/y of refractory concentrate would be purchased as feed for the processing facility, with an initial focus on concentrate produced from mines within the Dominican Republic.

Operating at 100 000 t/y throughput rate, with a typical 50 g/t gold content in the concentrate, gold production from the plant has been targeted at between 100 000 oz/y and 125 00 oz/y.

PanTerra was hoping to gain ‘demonstratable’ political support for the processing facility by the end of 2016, and to secure the necessary permitting by the end of 2017.

If these could not be secured, PanTerra has flagged the possibility of relocating the plant to one of several potential projects in Cuba, China or Peru.

Meanwhile, PanTerra has also reached an understanding with Chinese gold producer Guangxi Gold Company (GGC) to, in principal, jointly construct a 25 000 t/y Albion/CIL demonstration plant for the processing of arsenopyrite ores.

GGC’s proposal was to jointly construct and operate the demonstration plant at one of the company’s mines to process arsenopyrite refractory concentrate.

Under the terms of the agreement, PanTerra would establish a preliminary design and costings for a modular Albion/CIL plant that could expand to a more efficient 50 000 t/y or 75 000 t/y size, and which could be operated for 15- to 20-years.

If construction proceeded, GGC would provide a suitable site, infrastructure and tailings dam storage for the demonstration plant, while PanTerra would be responsible for the management of any development, and for operating the plant.

The two companies would share the costs for construction and operation of the demonstration plant.

PanTerra was hoping to complete the technical and economic evaluation for the demonstration plant by mid-2017, with construction and commissioning expected within 12 months of a decision to proceed with the development.